RESTAKING REBUILDS: EIGENCLOUD HITS $15B TVL AS ethereum:0xec53bf9167f50cdeb3ae105f56099aaab9061f83 POPS 24%

EigenCloud Reclaims Market Dominance After Sector Shock

@eigencloud, the protocol formerly known as EigenLayer, has staged a quiet but meaningful comeback. The protocol now holds $15.258 billion in TVL with 93.9% market share in restaking, compared to Symbiotic at $897 million (5.5%) and Karak at $102 million (0.6%). That recovery lands just weeks after a major blow to broader confidence in the sector.

In April, Kelp DAO, a liquid restaking protocol, became the victim of the largest DeFi hack of 2026 to date, with an attacker stealing an estimated $292 million using a combination of compromised infrastructure and a DDoS attack. Over $13 billion in TVL exited various platforms in the two days following the hack. The fallout rattled sentiment across the restaking sector, though EigenCloud's core TVL figures suggest the damage was not permanent.

ELIP-12 and the Case for EIGEN Value Capture

The structural story behind the token's 24% weekly gain centers on a fee model overhaul. The protocol recently proposed a transformative tokenomics overhaul through ELIP-12, introducing a 20% fee on subsidized AVS rewards and channeling 100% of EigenCloud infrastructure revenue into EIGEN buybacks. Under the proposed mechanism, 20% of AVS reward-related fees, once subsidized by EIGEN incentives, could be funneled into a fee contract designed for token buybacks, reducing the circulation of the available token while the ecosystem grows.

The protocol integrates three core infrastructure components through EigenCloud: EigenDA (data availability), EigenCompute (off-chain compute), and EigenVerify (dispute resolution). With EigenAI mainnet now live as a verifiable AI workload layer, the network is pushing beyond its restaking origins into a broader infrastructure play. Net restaker rewards have stepped up to above 20% NRR, well ahead of vanilla $ETH staking returns.

The proposal aims to shift rewards toward tokens that are actively used on the network, rather than those that are simply restaked and left idle, with more incentives going to what EigenLayer calls "productive stake," tokens that help run and secure live services. After a prolonged period of skepticism around restaking's value-capture credentials, the combination of real fee flows and a clear buyback mechanism is giving markets something concrete to price in.

Sources
EigenLayer Tokenomics: How EIGEN Captures Restaking Revenue (Tokenomics.com)
EigenLayer Plans Bigger Rewards for Active Users (CoinDesk)
Explained: The Kelp DAO Hack, April 2026 (Halborn)